eating* the east bay pt. I

by michelletranny

(*and drinking)

I am sure you are dying to know whether we’ve at all gotten our shit together with respect to tackling this bucket list. It’s been tough with our different and demanding work schedules, but we managed to make a sizeable dent over the weekend (though we are of course, behind schedule).

Friday, July 16th
Drinks and merriment at Alex and Dana’s housewarming shindig in their sweet ass downtown Oakland loft left us thirsty for more. So around 1.00 am we rolled over to Cafe Van Kleef, a mere stone’s throw away!

Of course we all got Greyhounds, CVK’s signature cocktail: freshly squeezed grapefruit juice & vodka.

Comes with a generous slice of grapefruit! Derish.



Saturday, July 17th
I woke up in the mood for something naughty. Caro and Grisha were down, so we walked the 6ish blocks to Bakesale Betty’s on Telegraph.

It was even better than I’d remembered. (It’d been too long since I’d had it.) I found myself pining for more coleslaw which is so uncharacteristic of me.


The one disappointing factor — they no longer had Frank’s! Instead we were forced to make due with packets of Tapatio… It was still a really tasty combo, to be fair.

A few hours later, after I awoke from a fried chicken-induced coma, we headed to Beer Revolution to kill some time before our reservation at Bocanova.

What can I say? I was in a fruity mood. I guess I should’ve ordered something more interesting for my first time at Beer Revolution. I’ll be back though.. Beer Revolution is all the rage with most of the people in my life.

Caroline’s beer, however, called Heaven & Hell, was delicious.




Jack London Square is the perfect spot for a triple date ;) .

We arrived at Bocanova ravenously hungry. (Our reservation wasn’t til 8.45.) Cocktail-wise I ordered the “voluptuous”: gin, egg white, agave nectar, absinthe and crushed strawberries. I think I prefer the pisco sour.

Paul and I split the halibut ceviche, which was overseasoned and oversauced but edible (with limited enjoyment). The banana chips were a nice touch but I missed the taste of fresh fishy flesh.

The pork & clam stew with red peppers, oregano, tomatoes and cilantro was bursting with flavor and served in a well-sized portion! Absolutely delicious and we had pork to spare! Matt and Jane also seemed happy with the Yucatan seafood stew they ordered.

Aside from the ceviche and the stew we opted for the quinoa, shrimp and roasted beet salad and the Kobe-style bavette steak again (duh). The service was a bit wanting this time around but we all still managed to stuff our faces!

Sunday, July 18th
Sunday was supposed to be a Lois day but we made it a beach day instead. We still had time to drop by the Temescal farmer’s market and Star Grocery on Claremont before embarking though!

The sandwich menu at Star Grocery… I opted for the “My Cousin Vinny.” Bruschetta on a sandwich. What a lovely idea!

We drove quite a while to get to this beach Dom had found, located a bit south of Pacifica.

The sandwich, in spite of my greatest fears and having been sitting in the car for like 4 hours, was not at all soggy even though it had bruschetta on it! What amazing, resilient bread! That alone sold me on Star Grocery’s greatness.